The subject matter described herein relates generally to a “batter's eye,” a device used to give a dark background for a baseball batter attempting to pick up a pitched ball. The device may be used in similar applications involving providing a darkened background, particularly in the context of sports and recreational activities.
Batter's eye devices or backdrops have long been a part of the baseball scene. Conventional batter's eyes or wind and light guards of this type are completely stationary and are constructed using an aluminum or mesh skin for the vertical backdrop.
Such stationary batter's eyes suffer from reduced durability, as they remain exposed in adverse weather conditions such as through the winter months and during the off-season. Further, they are largely immobile as they are planted into a fixed location.
Additionally, the conventional batter's eye is constructed of one piece, and therefore is subject to being degraded at a quicker rate, as it must face the full brunt of high winds and other inclement weather.
What is needed, therefore, is an improved batter's eye which may be readily raised and lowered automatically or manually, and is constructed to mitigate against the degradations suffered by conventional batter's eyes and wind and light-guards, and which are moveable without digging up the very foundations of the batter's eye.